Best Bet(s): Billed as three comedies… audiences are likely to enjoy these three movies in varying levels of satisfaction.  So far, I can tell you that “My Life in Ruins” (read my review) is not as good as you might hope in a romantic comedy.  The buzz on the other two movies is that some audiences will enjoy and others will be disappointed by either Will Ferrell’s “Land of the Lost” or “The Hangover” from the director of “Old School”.

New on DVD (Tuesday): “Defiance”, “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “Revolutionary Road”, “Spring Breakdown”

Best Bet(s): Three strong offerings on DVD came out on Tuesday: Oscar nominated drama “Revolutionary Road” (read my review) (Kate and Leo)…  Oscar nominated World War II drama “Defiance” (read my review) (Daniel Craig and Liev Schrieber)… and the very successful and enjoyable ensemble romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You” (read my review).  I have no information about the Amy Poehler/Parkey Posey/Rachel Dracht comedy “Spring Breakdown”… you’re on your ownon that one… but here’s a red flag: straight to DVD!!!

 CLICK HERE TO FIND A MOVIE SHOWTIME

Next Week at Theaters: “Imagine That”, “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3″, “The Brothers Bloom” (limited release at Celebration! North and Celebration! Cinema Crossroads in Grand Rapids and Cinema Carousel in Muskegon)

Next Week on DVD: “Crossing Over”, “Fired Up”, “Gran Torino”, “The International”, “Spinning Into Butter”

MY REVIEWS OF OTHER MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS OR AVAILABLE TO RENT/BUY: 

Playing at West Michigan movie theaters:
“Star Trek” (8.5 / 10)
“Angels & Demons” (8.5 / 10)
“I Love You, Man” (8.0/ 10)
“State of Play” (8.0)
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (7.5 / 10)
“Four Christmases”  (7.5 / 10)
“Knowing” (7.0 / 10)
“Watchmen” (7.0 / 10)
“The Day the Earth Stood Still” (6.5 / 10)
“Monsters Vs. Aliens” (6.0 / 10)
“Confessions of A Shopaholic” (5.5 / 10)
“Dance Flick” (2.0 / 10)

- – -

Available to rent or buy:
“Slumdog Millionaire” (9.5/ 10)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (9.5 / 10)
“The Dark Knight” (9.5 / 10)
“Changeling”  (9.5 / 10)
“WALL-E” (9.0)
“Pride and Glory” (9.0 / 10)
“The Wrestler” (8.9 / 10)
“Righteous Kill” (8.9 / 10)
“Eagle Eye” (8.5 / 10)
“Burn After Reading” (8.5 / 10)
“Wanted” (8.0 / 10)
“Defiance” (8.0 / 10)
“The Visitor” (8.0 / 10)
“Australia”  (7.9 / 10)
“Frozen River” (7.9 / 10)
“Revolutionary Road” (7.9 / 10)
“New in Town” (7.9 / 10)
“Quantum of Solace”  (7.5 / 10)
“Taken” (7.5 / 10)
“Fanboys” (8.5 for me, adjusted to 7.5 for most)
“He’s Just Not That Into You” (7.5 / 10)
“Traitor” (7.5 / 10)
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“Marley & Me” (7.5 / 10)
“Bride Wars” (7.5 / 10)
“Rachel Getting Married” (7.0)
“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (7.0 / 10)
“Get Smart” (7.0 / 10)
“Bedtime Stories” (7.0 / 10)
“Twilight”  (7.0 / 10)
“Hotel for Dogs” (7.0 / 10)
“Appaloosa” (6.9 / 10)
“Lakeview Terrace” (6.5 / 10)
“Hellboy II: Golden Army” (6.5 / 10)
“Body of Lies” (6.0)
“Noise” (6.0 / 10) 

– 

Follow my updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/aaronlafferty

Add to your RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/woodtv8-blogs-laff-at-the-movies?format=html

YouTube Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=WOODTV8&view=videos&query=laff+at+the+movies

In addition to breaking the April record, “Fast and Furious”’s $72.51 million was nearly as much as all of the Top 12 movies combined for the same weekend in 2008 ($80.22 million April 4-6, 2008).

“Adventureland” opened in 6th place, while “Sunshine Cleaning” cracked the top 10 as it opened in West Michigan for the first time.

So much for staying power, “Watchmen” drops out of Top 10 in just its 5th week (from 8th to 13th)… meanwhile “Taken” holds on in its 11th week, losing 41% of its audience from last week, moving just 2 spots (2 new movies) from 9th to 11th.   But “I Love You, Man” lost the least of the top 15 movies, down just 38% from the previous weekend. 

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Fast and Furious” – $72.51 million (1st week)

2. “Monsters vs. Aliens” – $33.51 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 44% of audience from last week)

3. “The Haunting in Connecticut” – $9.55 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 59% from last week)

4. “Knowing” – $8.13 million
(3rd week, was #3 last week, lost 45% from last week)

5. “I Love You, Man” – $7.85 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 38% from last week)

6. “Adventureland” – $6.01 million (1st week)

7. “Duplicity” – $4.30 million
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 44% from last week)

8. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $3.35 million
(4th week, was #6 last week, lost 42% from last week)

9. “12 Rounds” – $2.30 million
(2nd week, was #7 last week, lost 57% from last week)

10. “Sunshine Cleaning” – $1.88 million
(4th week of limited release, was #11 last week, gained 48% from last weekend, adding 312 theaters, including West Michigan)

—

11. “Taken” – $1.58 million
(10th week, was #9 last week, lost 41% from last week)

12. “The Last House on the Left” (2009) – $1.31 million
(4th week, was #10 last week, lost 50% from last week)

13. “Watchmen” - $1.09 million
(5th week, was #8 last week, lost 60% from last week)

14. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $0.51 million
(21st week, was #12 last week, lost 56% from last week)

CLICK HERE FOR LAST WEEK’S BOX OFFICE REPORT 

“Fast & Furious” poster courtesy Universal Pictures

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

Last week’s number one “Knowing”, number two “I Love You, Man”, and number three “Duplicity” dropped two spots, holding their order from last week, but “I Love You, Man” lost the least from last week, just 29% of its audience while “Knowing” lost 40% of its audience and “Duplicity” lost 46% from last week.

“Sunshine Cleaning”, which opens in Grand Rapids market this Friday, nearly cracked the Top 10 in its 3rd week of limited release, despite playing in just 167 theaters nationwide. 

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Monsters vs. Aliens” – $58.20 million (1st week)

2. “The Haunting in Connecticut” – $23.01 million (1st week)

3. “Knowing” – $14.71 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 40% of audience from last week)

4. “I Love You, Man” – $12.60 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 29% from last week)

5. “Duplicity” – $7.56 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 46% from last week)

6. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $5.64 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 56% from last week)

7. “12 Rounds” – $5.30 million (1st week)

8. “Watchmen” - $2.76 million
(4th week, was #5 last week, lost 60% from last week)

9. “Taken” – $2.70 million
(9th week, was #7 last week, lost 34% from last week)

10. “The Last House on the Left” (2009) – $2.61 million
(3rd week, was #6 last week, lost 55% from last week)

—

11. “Sunshine Cleaning” – $1.34 million
(3rd week of limited release)

12. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $1.14 million
(20th week, was #8 last week, lost 58% from last week)

14. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $0.83 million
(11th week, was #11 last week, lost 55% from last week)

15. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $0.47 million
(8th week, was #12 last week, lost 62% from last week)

69. “Fanboys” - $0.01 million (opened 3/6 in West Michigan)
(8th week, playing in just 28 theaters nationally, 2 more than last week)

CLICK HERE FOR LAST WEEK’S BOX OFFICE REPORT 

“Monsters vs. Aliens” poster courtesy Summit Entertainment

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Taken” continues to hold on, now in its 8th week of release, it is losing less than the movies that have been in theaters for fewer weeks, losing 38% of its audience from last week while “Watchmen” lost 62%, “Last House on the Left” lost 58%, and “Race to Witch Mountain” lost 47% of the audience from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Knowing” – $24.81 million (1st week)

2. “I Love You, Man” – $18.00 (1st week)

3. “Duplicity” – $14.40 million (1st week)

4. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $13.00 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 47% from last week)

5. “Watchmen” - $6.73 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 62% from last week)

6. “The Last House on the Left” (2009) – $5.92 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 58% from last week)

7. “Taken” – $4.10 million
(8th week, was #4 last week, lost 38% from last week)

8. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $2.70 million
(19th week, was #6 last week, lost 46% from last week)

9. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $2.50 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, lost 51% from last week)

10. “Coraline” – $2.14 million
(7th week, was #9 last week, lost 21% from last week)

—

11. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $1.88 million
(10th week, was #7 last week, lost 40% from last week)

12. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $1.27 million
(7th week, was #8 last week, lost 57% from last week)

 13. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $0.76 million
(6th week, was #11 last week, lost 61% from last week)

56. “Fanboys” - $0.01 million (opened 3/6 in West Michigan)
(7th week, playing in just 26 theaters nationally, 1 fewer than last week)

CLICK HERE FOR LAST WEEK’S BOX OFFICE REPORT 

“Knowing” poster courtesy Summit Entertainment

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

Also new over the weekend were “The Last House on the Left” (2009) and “Miss March”.   The horror remake gave “Watchmen” a run for its money, while the buddy comedy “Miss March” barely made the top 10.

Word of mouth or bad reviews, or both??   “Watchmen” saw one of the biggest declines in recent memory (67%) for a number one movie after its opening weekend (last week’s $55 million was the biggest opening of the year so far).

“Taken” is holding its own, now in its 7th week of release, it continues to hover around 4th place, losing just 9% of its audience from last week.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. ”Race to Witch Mountain” – $25.00 million (1st week)

2. “Watchmen” - $18.07 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 67% from last week)

3. “The Last House on the Left” (2009) – $14.66 million (1st week)

4. “Taken” – $6.65 million
(7th week, was #4 last week, lost 9% from last week)

5. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $5.13 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

6. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $5.03 million
(18th week, was #4 last week, lost 26% from last week)

7. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $3.10 million
(9th week, was #5 last week, lost 25% from last week)

8. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $2.91 million
(6th week, was #6 last week, lost 28% from last week)

9. “Coraline” – $2.66 million
(65th week, was #7 last week, lost 19% from last week)

10. “Miss March” - $2.35 million (1st week)

—

11. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $2.00 million
(5th week, was #8 last week, lost 35% from last week)

48. “Fanboys” - $0.02 million (opened last Friday in West Michigan)
(6th week, playing in just 27 theaters nationally, 18 fewer than last week)

CLICK HERE FOR LAST WEEK’S BOX OFFICE REPORT 

“Race to Witch Mountain” poster courtesy Disney

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” dropped to second after two weeks at the top of the box office, but lost less of its audience than the previous week.  “Slumdog Millionaire” is still seeing returns on its Oscar win for Best Picture, but the box office momentum may be slowing down, as it lost 40% of its audience and slipped down to 4th place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Watchmen” - $55.66 million (1st week)

2. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $8.80 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 46% from last week)

3. “Taken” – $7.45 million
(6th week, was #4 last week, lost 25% from last week)

4. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $6.93 million
(17th week, was #3 last week, lost 42% from last week)

5. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $4.20 million
(8th week, was #6 last week, lost 25% from last week)

6. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $4.02 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, lost 33% from last week)

7. “Coraline” – $3.13 million
(5th week, was #7 last week, lost 37% from last week)

8. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $3.12 million
(4th week, was #9 last week, lost 33% from last week)

9. “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” – $2.79 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 78% from last week)

10. “Fired Up” – $2.60 million
(3rd week, was #10 last week, lost 30% from last week) 

—

39. “Fanboys” - $0.03 million (opened Friday in West Michigan)
(5th week, playing in just 45 theaters nationally, 11 more than last week)

CLICK HERE FOR LAST WEEK’S BOX OFFICE REPORT 

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

The Oscar winning bump saw a 45% increase in audience for “Slumdog Millionaire” moving up from 5th to 3rd place.

Another trend of weak post-Oscar offerings is the week’s other new movie “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”… opening in 8th place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $16.50 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 60% from last week)

2. “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” – $12.70 million (1st week)

3. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $12.15 million
(16th week, was #5 last week, gained 45% more from last week)

4. “Taken” – $9.95 million
(5th week, was #3 last week, lost 12% from last week)

5. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $5.88 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 31% from last week)

6. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $5.60 million
(7th week, was #8 last week, lost 18% from last week)

7. “Coraline” – $5.25 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 54% from last week)

8. “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” – $4.65 million (1st week)

9. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $4.49 million
(3rd week, was #8 last week, lost 33% from last week)

10. “Fired Up” – $3.80 million
(2nd week, was #9 last week, lost 31% from last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

Its something we haven’t seen in awhile – a big cast of quality actors and actresses in a romantic comedy – combined with a story that ties them all together – with a storyline that is one part modern twist and one part formulaic traditional romantic comedy.
But the place where “He’s Just Not That Into You” shines is the character development and interpersonal relationships that are under the microscope throughout this movie.

The entire main cast of characters including Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, and Drew Barrymore turn in a solid effort of well developed characters in limited screen time.

Goodwin is great as the awkwardly desperate girl-next-door “Gigi” that is trying to find the love of her life, while her girlfriends are comfortable in their multi-year relationships.  The other characters are connected by one or two degrees of separation as friends or love interests and as couples with varying levels of seriousness from “just friends” to married for years.

This is a movie for twenty or thirty-somethings that are still out there trying to find their love… and perhaps an eye-opener for the younger set before they start to “go out” and try to find a relationship.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

The movie isn’t preachy, it just puts it out there… the different levels that relationships evolve into between men and women… but it is also a little laded, because its not all happy endings.

This is one of the better romantic comedies I’ve seen in awhile, with a good story and great group of actors and actresses making the movie an worthwhile experience… I give it 7.5 out of 10.

“He’s Just Not That Into You”

(2008) (rated: PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language) (2 hrs, 9 min)

Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore, Busy Philipps, Kris Kristofferson

Director: Ken Kwapis

Genre: Romantic Comedy/Drama

The Plot: The Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior.

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

.
“He’s Just Not That Into You” poster courtesy New Line Cinema

** CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER MOVIE REVIEWS **

Follow my updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/aaronlafferty

Add to your RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/woodtv8-blogs-laff-at-the-movies?format=html

The other new movie of the week, “Fired Up” opened in 9th place with just $6 million.

Last week’s number one “Friday the 13th” (2009) dropped to sixth, losing 81% of its audience from the week before… the biggest week-to-week loss by a number one movie so far this year.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” – $41.12 million (1st week)

2. “Taken” – $11.40 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 40% from last week)

3. “Coraline” – $11.03 million
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 25% from last week)

4. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $8.54 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 56% from last week)

5. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $8.05 million
(15th week, was #9 last week, gained 11% more from last week)

6. “Friday the 13th” (2009) – $7.83 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 81% from last week)

7. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $7.02 million
(2nd week, was #4 last week, lost 53% from last week)

8. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $7.00 million
(6th week, was #6 last week, lost 36% from last week)

9. “Fired Up” – $6.00 million (1st week)

10. “The International” – $4.45 million
(2nd week, was #7 last week, lost 52% from last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo

And it wasn’t even close… with the remake “Friday the 13th” taking in more ($42 million) than the second and third place movies combined, the slasher movie also becomes the biggest opening of the year, passing “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”’s $31 million opening in January. 

Last week’s number one “He’s Just Not That Into You” slipped to second and new movies “Confessions of A Shopaholic” and “The International” opened in fourth and seventh place.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “Friday the 13th” (2009) – $42.25 million (1st week)

2. “He’s Just Not That Into You” – $19.61 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 29% from last week)

3. “Taken” – $19.25 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 6% from last week)

4. “Confessions of A Shopaholic” – $15.41 million (1st week)

5. “Coraline” – $15.32 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 9% from last week)

6. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” - $11.70 million
(5th week, was #5 last week, gained 7% more than last week)

7. “The International” – $10.00 million (1st week)

8. “The Pink Panther 2″ - $9.00 million
(2nd week, was #4 last week, lost 22% from last week)

9. “Slumdog Millionaire” - $7.15 million
(14th week, was #8 last week, lost 0.5% from last week)

10. “Push” – $6.93 million
(2nd week, was #6 last week, lost 31% from last week)

- – -

11. “Gran Torino” – $6.75 million
(10th week, was #7 last week, lost 6% from last week)

13. “Hotel for Dogs” – $4.23 million
(5th week, was #10 last week, lost 26% from last week)

17. ”The Wrestler” – $1.80 million
(4th week of wide release, was #15 last week, lost 19% from last week)

18. “New in Town” - $1.72 million
(3rd week, was #12 last week, lost 47% from last week)

19. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – $1.60 million
(8th week, was #13 last week, lost 30% from last week)

20. “Revolutionary Road” – $0.98 million
(8th week, was #17 last week, lost 42% from last week)

Box Office numbers courtesy Box Office Mojo